A tax appeal assessment approved by the county commissioners on Wednesday will see the tax bill for the North Warren Walmart fall significantly.
The terms of the settlement will see the assessed value of the 19.19-acre location of Walmart fall from $3.23 million to $1.589 million for the 2021 tax year and $1.449 million in the 2022 tax year and beyond.
The property at 2901 Market St. is owned, according to the settlement and county assessment records, by Walmart Real Estate Business Trust. That entity brought the appeal, currently in the county’s court of common pleas, against the Board of Assessment Appeals and the three taxing bodies — Conewango Township, Warren County and the Warren County School District.
A school district committee on Monday recommended approval of the settlement to the whole board which will likely occur at its next meeting.
The county commissioners and Warren County School District board held a collective closed-door meeting on the appeal earlier this year.
A look at the Walmart appeal, on file at the Warren County prothonotary’s office, claims that the current assessment is “unfair, unreasonable, and excessive” and “substantially higher than assessments of comparable properties in the same neighborhood and the taxing district.”
The settlement document states that the settlement is in part due to the “risks and hazards of litigation.”
The 2022 assessed value — $1,449,000 – will remain in effect “unless changed by reason of an assessment appeal, countywide reassessment, physical change in the property….”
The commissioners have undertaken what’s called a “ratio study” which analyzes whether reassessment is needed. The county’s current assessment dates to the 1980s.
That report has been received and will be presented to the Warren County Council of Governments at a meeting next week.
Times Observer
